A Tribute To Lightning

She was always waiting at the fence!

So, I never mentioned Lightning on this blog. I'm actually rather surprised that I didn't. Well, Lighting has been suffering from COPD for 7 years. It hasn't ever been so severe to the point that she can't breathe until Monday night. I didn't own Lightning until Monday night. Her owners called & said that if we would take her, we could have her. She couldn't breathe & was showing signs of colic, but hadn't been colicing. We have tried to get Lightning for the past few years. She was "my" first real pony. Things started looking up the night we picked her up & took her to the Vet. He put her on some anti-inflammatory steroids & told me to continue giving her Banimene for the pain. Yesterday, she hadn't shown much improvement & wouldn't drink or eat all day. This began worrying me. We gave her Gatorade by syringe so we could get something in her. This morning, she started looking worse. & she started showing signs of colic. We got her out of her stall, let her graze & she drank some. We had already called the Vet to tell him it was time to euthanize her. I've never lost a horse before. We just thought that she was going to be okay after grazing & drinking (finally). But when the Vet arrived, he checked her & her intestines had twisted. He didn't think she was a candidate for surgery either, with her condition. Lightning was euthanized about an hour ago. I am completely heartbroken. Her COPD attack could've been prevented but her owners didn't care, they didn't even try to help her with it. If she wouldn't have had the COPD attack, she wouldn't have coliced. Lightning was the pony that taught me the basics of riding - how to post, canter, & jump. She also taught me what love for an animal was, & how to take care of "my" own horse. I only officially owned her for two days before she had to leave this world. & I hate that. She has been with me multiple times over the past few years on free leases spanning from years to months. It is beyond ridiculous that it had to be a near death experience in order for me to finally get the horse. This horse was the first horse I ever did more than walk on. She always gave me her all, no matter what.

She had the cutest ears!

She hated jumping, but did it anyway. She also spent a year at a therapeutic riding facility. Lightning was 21 & deserved to live out the rest of her life, as a retired pasture mate. I could've given her that. I would've given her that. She meant the world to me & I absolutely hated to see her suffering. I really didn't want it to end like this. She was my best friend & I thank her for doing all of the things she has done for me. She is the reason I started riding again. She is the reason I gained the confidence to start eventing. This incident just goes to show who should & shouldn't own horses. I love you Lightning, & I hope you're galloping around in Heaven. You may have not been loved by your actual owners, but you were loved by me.

The old ladies relaxing - Winter 2012.

Lightning's last day.

FODS?

So what do you think that means? Finished On Dressage Score. This is the very first time I've been able to say that Dargenzio & I finished on our dressage score of a 33.5. I'm so so so so happy. We had an okay dressage test which put us in 3rd, tied with someone else. & we had a double clear show jumping round which broke the tie. We finished our cross country double clean! We were going more like Training pace so we circled three times before the last jump so we could waste some time, but oh well! We came in at 5:07, 4 seconds under optimum! I'm so incredibly proud of Dargenzio. He pulled me the whole course... which is why we were hauling. He loves his job & I'm so happy that he does. We finished in third out of 15 riders! I need to say a big thank you to everyone who has made this possible, my three amazing trainers - Katie Bryant, Jodie Kelly & Bart Brennan, my horse - Dargenzio, my parents & the rest of my family that has been a huge support. Also, a big thank you to all of you who are reading this right now! I started this blog mainly for myself, but I'm so grateful that I actually have viewers. Now on a more serious note - There was an unfortunate event involving horse & rider at Poplar this weekend. I was the cross country warm up ring steward so I heard everything going on. I'm not going to share exactly what happened because if it was me, I wouldn't want people going around spreading the whole story. The horse & rider had a rotational fall at fence 7 on the Open Preliminary course. In the event, the horse sustained horrific injuries & had to be euthanized on sight. The rider walked away okay. I cannot even begin to imagine what I would do without my partner in crime. From my understanding, this horse & rider had been together for a long time, from Beginner Novice all the way up. Please pray for Jacel Galloway & her family as they recover from this tragic incident. Eventing is a dangerous sport but USEA is trying to make it safer by adding frangible pins, aerovating the terrain, & changing the rules. Its sad to see this happen, especially since the horse was doing what it loved. Please take a second to appreciate your horse & what they do for you. They risk getting injured, but they love their riders & love what they do so they keep trucking. Give them an extra hug & an extra kiss, make sure you tell them 'thank you' after every single ride & don't leave the arena without a big pat whether they behaved or not. They still did what you wanted them to do. Before cross country, I was really nervous. The ground was hard, my horse doesn't have stud holes, & the course was also maxed out. I didn't want that to happen to Dargenzio. I know we're only running Novice, but its still scary. I rode the course as well as I could & Dargenzio tried his heart out for me. We got around safely - That's all that matters.

Horse Euthanized After Fall At Poplar Place Farm November Horse Trial

Soooo...

This post might be super long. Bear with me.

Lessons leading up to the Horse Trial

Dargenzio schooling Friday, at Chatt

So, I went to the Chatt Hills Horse Trial two weekends ago. Dargenzio put in a lovely school on Friday, followed by a lovely dressage test on Saturday. We scored a 34, which put us in fourth after dressage. We ran cross country the same day & I was extremely excited. The course was mainly Training level questions, just at Novice height. Dargenzio was a machine up until the second to last jump which happened to be a stupid down bank. The line was a roll top to an up bank, two strides to a down bank, four strides to a house. The first jump & up bank rode really nicely. But I trusted Dargenzio way too much going up the bank & was thinking he'd *just* go down the bank without me having to add extra encouragement. Well, that didn't happen. He slammed on breaks right as we got up the bank & then backed up a buttload of steps which caused us two refusals. I was really frustrated with Dargenzio at that point but I was going to make time no matter what. So, we came in 10 seconds under the time even after our two refusals(; Considering I was sitting in second to last place, I really didn't care too much about show jumping which is why we had such a horrid round. I was kinda just sitting up there. Dargenzio sucked back way too much to one of the jumps (& I didn't put my leg on) & took the rail, because he literally climbed over the jump. I was at the point at not caring, we finished... That's all that matters, right? Monday after the Horse Trial was over, I went cross country schooling. Dargenzio was fantastic & schooled most of the Training combinations on course. We even schooled the up bank three strides to a roll top out of the water, which many horses had problems with on course. Dargenzio went to it the first time like it was no big deal. He was also much more confident while we were schooling. After Chatt, I went with my trainer to Virginia as a groom for the CCI*. The trip was long & exhausting but we finally made it there at like 1 in the morning. Then, we got the ponies settled in & got ourselves settled in. On Thursday, we had the first jogs.

San City - Accepted

Samson was looking pretty spiffy & there wasn't a hair out of place on his body. I cannot believe we honestly got him so clean. Katie & Samson were accepted after the first jog. Dressage came around (rather quickly) the next day & they put in a lovely third place test. Cross country was on Saturday & I had to wait impatiently at the Vet box, so I got to see nothing on course except the last few jumps. As we're waiting, I see a big black horse with a rider in a white shirt & tan breeches (exactly what my trainer was wearing) walking up the hill. Why were they walking? In my mind I was thinking, "That couldn't be Katie. Its not even her ride time yet, she has 15 minutes until she is supposed to go." Right before we noticed the horse, the announcer said they were running 10 minutes ahead. Well, she got down to the start box & it was her :( We were all upset since we were hoping for a clean finish. But, Katie retired on course which in the end, was probably best for Samson. The week before Virginia, she had been saying that Samson felt funny but she couldn't quite put her finger on what was wrong. She decided to run the CCI* since she hasn't ran one in 9 years, anyway. When they left the start box, Samson had been good over the first few jumps but then stopped. Samson doesn't stop... ever. Katie kept trucking & then he stopped again. At that point, she knew something was wrong. She circled back around to jump the fence just because she didn't want him getting away with it & apparently, he was switching leads every stride. Something was definitely wrong with Samson. Even though she is extremely bummed about not being able to complete the CCI*, I think she made the best choice for Samson. He is going to the Vet's tomorrow to see what's up. Hopefully it's nothing major & he'll be back out competing soon. I got home yesterday night & I leave in three days to go back up north, to Georgia, to Poplar Place Farm for the November Horse Trial. Dargenzio & I are going to go clean. I do not care what happened at Chatt or the Poplar before. We will go clean. Dargenzio should know that course by heart now, we've only schooled it a bajillion times. He also rocked around most of the Training course at Chatt so we shouldn't have a problem.

First ride after I got home

I rode him today for the first time since Chatt, & he was wonderful. I can't believe he was so great especially since he had only been ridden twice while I was away. Hopefully he will keep up the good behavior & trot down centerline perfectly, at Poplar! While I was gone, my parents got me a new pony! I had seen her beforehand & I only said yes because she is a super cute mover. Until today, I didn't realize how much work she will really be. First thing, I can't ride her for quite a while. She is covered in fungus - where her girth goes, where her saddle goes, all up her neck, where her halter goes, everywhere. Obviously, I'm treating it & it will hopefully clear up soon. Her hooves were horrific when we got her as well, so they need some time to heal before I even think about getting on her. She has been sore the last few days & finally today, she was moving normally. (Yay!) She also hasn't been ridden in a long time so I'm basically going to start her over. I don't want to risk getting thrown, so I'm going to take it nice & slow. She is really cute & I think she'll be a wonderful event pony or hunter pony. After not being handled for years, she jumped right on the trailer, got her shots like a champ but wasn't that wonderful for the farrier. I wasn't here but according to my parents, she kicked the farrier & it took her over three hours to do her feet. Well, the pony picks up all four feet perfectly for me & will hold them for long periods of time.

The new pony - Lena

She also didn't try to kick me soooo, maybe the farrier just has bad luck? I (attempted) to lunge her today. She seemed really willing but didn't understand the concept & it also didn't help that I don't have a round pen, to guide her. She was going all over the place. Needless to say, she really only walked & did a bit of trot on the lunge line because I couldn't get her to do anything else without going somewhere else. Now that Winter is here, I think I'm going to start working Savannah again. I intended on riding her today but it takes me 2 hours + to work with the pony & I rode Dargenzio for over an hour, so I didn't have time with all of my school work & other necessary things. But, I'm excited to get her started again & hopefully she'll be able to do the hunters or some dressage once I get her going again. Last time I rode her, she was awesome... but that was months ago. She cannot stand the heat that we're having with her Antarctica Winter coat so I'm going to body clip her once my new clippers get here. Soon enough, I'll have three horses to ride on a daily basis! Okay so. Wish me luck at Poplar & now this post is finally over!